


Roll with the chaotic Winds

by SachikoKuroichi



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: M/M, no beta we die like women, some lyrics found their way into that fic, tho word did its best to at least get out most of the mistakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23581831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SachikoKuroichi/pseuds/SachikoKuroichi
Summary: To say it was love at first sight would've been a little bit too far-fetched, but Dante couldn't deny that the young part-demon had caught his attention from the very second he laid his eyes on his appearance the first time.Nero's life had never been the easiest one to begin with. But even while being an outsider, even with his fellow knights, his life was rather boring. So it was beyond exciting when Dante stepped into his life with a bang.
Relationships: Dante/Nero (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 55





	Roll with the chaotic Winds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gummibeere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gummibeere/gifts).



> Hello and welcome to hell! *bows*
> 
> Just a few things before we start:  
>  _italic_ =thoughts  
>  _~italic~_ =lyrics of the songs that inspired this work
> 
> Said songs are "Roll with the Wind" by Alexander Rybak and "Chaos" by Mathea. Chaos is a german song tho, so I had to translate the lyrics, hoping that they still get the message/feel across. 
> 
> Last but not least: I hope you have fun reading! Something to keep you entertained in these tiring times. Stay positive, strong and healthy everyone! <3

To say it was love at first sight would've been a little bit too far-fetched, but Dante couldn't deny that the young part-demon had caught his attention from the very second he laid his eyes on his appearance the first time. It was curious to see another hybrid, with the same white hair and piercing blue eyes nonetheless. Even if he had to correct himself here. The youngster's eyes weren't exactly like his own. Instead of ice blue, capable of freezing every and any enemy with just one glance, his were of a warmer shade, clearly showing the fire that burned in his soul, the love he was capable of giving, the devotion to the greater good he had sworn himself to.

His fighting style was a very unique one, not that Dante had expected anything less from this very interesting guy, who's legs were currently wrapped around his waist and who attempted to bite into Ivory to get her out of his face. He had to hold onto himself to not show the younger one how amused he was to be able to play with him like that. Like there wasn't a mission to return do. Like he hadn't just attempted to kill the monstrosity that was still trying to unleash hell over this peaceful city. Like there wasn't said city to save and demons to kill. But unfortunately there was and Dante had never been one to skip his responsibilities. Not anymore.

To know that the little one was following him, chasing him all the way up the mountains and through the forests was enough to soothe the beginning desire, this nagging sensation to be with him. Dante was a kinda thrown off his game by these newfound feelings, lost because he had absolutely no explanation for their existence. One thing he was hundred percent sure about anyway: He enjoyed riling up the younger one, seeing how he would glare at him, thinking that he was able to intimidate him with his cute face and little puppy eyes. Every clash of their swords, every hit they landed on each other, every drop of blood they shed, made his very soul sing. And just as much as he was thrilled to feel that way after all those years of agony and self-hatred, as much he was scared about the implications all of it brought too. Dante was not quick to be interested in someone else, much less infatuated. He was a flirt, yeah, but he was a harmless one. He wore his heart neither on his cheek nor on his sleeve. He had locked it away, behind all the hurt and pain his past had inflicted on him.

He told himself to back off, to let this interest die down, as it was foolish to entertain it from the start.

Easier said than done.

The little one, Nero, as he finally came to know, was a persistent one. Both on wanting to kill him, (or at least let him pay for his sins and make him leave the city if dying was too much to be asked from him) and on his quest to worm his way into Dante's thoughts. It got even harder for him the second he showed up with Yamato in his hands, as well as a strange manifestation of his demonic energy floating above him, looking also way too familiar for his liking. All the implications made his head swim and start to hurt. He was quick to push them back to the farthest corner of his mind, told himself to focus on the mission and think about it later.

It worked. Dante was able to fool himself into thinking that this was just a normal mission, like all the others he had completed during all his years as devil hunter. Everything was as always, perfectly normal, nothing was off, right?

If one didn't pay attention to the pang he felt in his heart as he had to watch Nero cry out for his beloved one, sacrificing himself in the process to rescue her. If he ignored the slight flicker of panic that started to rise in him the second he lost contact, as well as the helplessness he felt at the thought of having lost another loved one.

Nothing was as always, everything was off, but Dante was stubborn, too stubborn to see it. To see the signs, to acknowledge his downfall. And his name was Nero.

He called himself an idiot for thinking of the kid as someone dear to him. He didn't even know the brat. They were strangers, nothing more, nothing less. Nobody he would remember after finishing his business on this damn island.

But not soon after they had defeated Sanctus he had to pay the price for his choice, the choice of not wanting to know, not wanting to be honest to himself.

Otherwise he could've prepared himself against the punch to the gut he experienced as he saw Nero, his little girlfriend in his arms, bending down to kiss her. The loving look he gave her while doing so was the thing that killed him inside, for reasons that still eluded him.

Without paying any of the demons any attention, he let himself slip into his demonic form and took off.

~ _I wanna roll with the wind,  
__Bring distance to everything.~_

But even with all the distance between Fortuna and Capulet City, between Dante and Nero, there was no hope of forgetting for the older devil hunter. He tried so hard to accomplish the task of forgetting him. The way it felt to fight him, as well as to fight alongside him. The way he grinned cockily in his direction when he had still thought there was at least a tiny chance of defeating him. Little did he know that Dante had gone easy on him every time they've fought. That would be an almost fatal blow to his (way too big) juvenile ego.

The demon hunter managed to keep himself busy on most of the days, tried to get his shop out of the red numbers, no easy task with how much he still owed Lady, but he was willing to try if it meant that he got a little bit of peace. That he was free of this nagging feeling in his head, in his heart, in his very soul. He dreamed of him, daydreamed, even his demonic side had decided to be a little bitch about it and started to long for the young hybrid. Was it the shared blood line that called out to each other? Was it more? Probably not. It was for sure something demonic that told him that he should look after his brother's offspring. It probably was his duty after killing him, after taking the father out of Nero's life. Not that Vergil would've planned on raising him anyway, as obsessed as he had been with his quest for power.

Dante told himself that it was just because of that that he always agreed to meet up with Nero when he called and asked for his opinion or help with something. He for sure didn't want to spend time with the little one to get finally a moment of peace. Some short amount of time no part of him was screaming or begging him to go and find him, to make sure he's safe and sound (in his arms), away from any danger (or lovers). But the younger one visited him more often than ever expected and it got to some dangerous level for Dante, as it got harder and harder to contain his thoughts, his feelings, feelings he not even acknowledged of having to himself. Suppressing them just caused them to want to break free even harder. Under normal circumstances he got some periods of time he was able to spend to recover from that, but nowadays with Nero staying overnight, most of the time a couple of nights in a row, there was no way for him to flee. To redirect his attention, to give him the opportunity to talk himself into trying to forget him, forget those stupid sensations. There was no way he was falling for Nero after all. The other one was way too young for him, was to 99,99% related to him and to top even that: He was in a relationship. With a pretty sweet girl.

So there was no way in hell that his cute, little, heterosexual nephew was on the receiving end of his romantic feelings. Totally impossible.

But his cute, little, heterosexual nephew soon wasn't that little or cute anymore. While puberty already had done a pretty neat job on the boy, the responsibilities of rebuilding the city of Fortuna, as well as the Order of the Sword, (just without the crazy leader and all the demonic experiments) and the constant fighting off of various demon hordes, did the rest. He'd grown a few inches over time, causing him to be still tinier than Dante, but he was getting closer and closer every time he visited. “Cute” had turned into “handsome”, which probably caused Dante the most troubles. While he already had been pretty strong for his age back then when the shit in Fortuna went down, it was nothing to what the ~~boy~~ young man packed now. His whole body was toned, was ripped as fuck and he for sure wasn't shy to show off what he got anymore. Dante still wondered how he managed to not die back then when he first saw Nero without his shirt. He should've been at least unconscious for quite some time considering how fast all his blood had left his brain and travelled downwards to... some lower regions.

But now it was clear as day to him and he couldn't deny it any longer: He was doomed, fucked even.

Because Dante had fallen for Nero. Had truly, madly, deeply fallen in love with him.

_~I won't claim it's all 'cause of you, I guess that I played a part,  
_ _It's just that I never knew I'd fall for you from the start.~_

Even when he should've seen all the signs, should've refrained from spending so much time with the younger one, should've kept his distance, he couldn't say that he regretted a single moment of his time with Nero.

And now, with him having all those little brats from the orphanage he's running with Kyrie and touring through the cities together with Nico, going on missions and killing demon after demon, there wasn't much time left to spend at the Devil May Cry. Nero's visits got less and less frequent, shorter too and Dante wasn't sure about what to think or how to feel about it. The only thing he knew was that something had to happen. He had to get over this his stupid feelings. Had to get rid of this hopeless crush. Because he was not ready to think of this anything more than being a stupid, little crush. Nothing more, but also nothing less. And he never had been good with letting go of something his heart had set his mind onto.

_~There's a hole in my heart and a picture in a frame – driving me insane.~_

A hole his very own brother had carved into his way too forgiving but also way too fragile heart. The man he'd killed with his very own hands, unknowingly or not. He wouldn't have been able to save him anyway back then, that he was sure of. At least that's what his guilt was telling him. This little nasty voice in his head, poisoning his every thought of happiness, telling him that true love, trust and everlasting relationships didn't exist. And even if they did, he wasn't worthy of them at all. Not after everything he'd done. It was his way of atoning for his sins. His hands were stained and Dante was neither cruel nor selfish enough to taint this innocent boy with them.

The picture on his desk was like a bitter reminder – demons shouldn't love. Hadn't it been for Sparda to love his mother, risking her life like that in such a selfish act he'd called love, she never would've been killed. Demons who loved, if each other or a mere human didn't matter, was just outright ridiculous, wrong, against nature. A demon had no loving bone in his body.

_~I would never blame you for the heartache, would never blame you for the tears.  
_ _I blame my stubborn heart, soul, body.  
_ _Every single thing around me stays the same – no matter what.~_

It had been difficult and hurtful at first but Dante had endured even worse before and so he was soon able get to the point of being able to put on a smile every time Nero was around. Fake, but a smile nonetheless. He was able to act pretty natural around him too. He even sent him some neon sign for Nico's van, effectively marking them as the branch-office of DMC, satisfying his demonic side by making it believe that they've expressed their claim on the younger part-demon by doing so.

To hear that some stranger had ripped off Nero's Devil Bringer and left him there to bleed to death, didn't sit too well with him. His demon whined, growled and screamed bloody murder in his head. Whining, because his precious boy got hurt. Growling, because it was pissed at Dante, as it was clear as fucking day to it that this wouldn't have happened if Nero would've been at the DMC, at Dante's side. And of course it was screaming bloody murder, tempted him to take on his demonic form and search for this lowlife that had dared to lay a finger on what was theirs.

Because of his mental state he wasn't able to visit his dear nephew. If there was just the tiniest trace of the cowardly demon who did that, Dante would trigger right on the spot, track this thing down and shred it to tiny pieces. Not exactly what Nero needed right now: An insane half demon out on the quest for revenge, seeking vengeance for his hopeless crush.

So he was actually in his shop when V turned up at his doorstep. Right in time to cause everything go to hell. Again.

The last thing he felt before everything went dark, was the overwhelming urge to protect Nero, to endure any pain and every injury that was needed to buy V enough time to get him out. He had to make sure that he was okay, that this fucking demon wouldn't lay one of his tentacles onto what was his. Oh, how he hoped that he'd been successful.

The last thing his inner eye let him see was one of Nero's confident smirks.

The last thing his memory provided was the smell of his beloved one, slightly mixed with his own scent, reminding of all the countless nights Nero had spent at the DMC.

His last thought came like an epiphany to him.

_I love you, Nero._

* * *

Nero's life had never been the easiest one to begin with. As an orphan with unusual white hair, with some freakish arm and finally because he was crushing on his adoptive sister. But even while being an outsider, even with his fellow knights, his life was rather boring. Between training, boring missions and all those hateful glances, Nero's only worries resolved around what to buy his family for various occasions and how to get enough money for it.

So it was beyond exciting when Dante stepped into his life with a bang. The appearance was the first thing he was more than just a little interested into. White hair like his own, ice blue eyes which were staring at him, causing him to shudder violently. The blood on his face was definitely a good look on the stranger. Fighting him was like a fever dream. Nero had pulled moves he never even dared to think about before, but it was like some higher force was pulling the strings on him. He wanted to crawl under something and hide forever just for remembering what he'd done back then. Wrapping his legs around his waist like a stripper around the dancing pole and biting into his weapon? What the hell had he been thinking? Exactly, nothing at all.

But even with all this embarrassment cursing through his veins, there was no way of staying away from him. He had a city to defend after all. At least that's what he told himself. There was no way in hell that he would admit that he felt a significant amount of curiosity towards the strange man. That something seemed to pull him towards him, making him chase after him through half of Fortuna Island.

Fighting the stranger, Dante, as he finally came to know, in a bedroom felt like a sick joke to him. Nero was a teenager still, driven by his hormones and even with his long-lasting crush on Kyrie, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering to how his legs had felt around Dante's waist. The various activities they could do on this bed his mind provided him was enough to distract him way too much, was even able to distract him from Dante himself, causing him to lose again against him, this time with more injuries than ever before, most of them totally unnecessary even, and Nero's ego was heavily bruised. Not that he'd had a lot of time to dwell on it actually. They still had a mission to return to. To say that Nero's emotions were a hot mess would've been the understatement of the century, maybe even the millennium. To be responsible for so many things, the safety of Kyrie, the future of Fortuna, maybe even the whole world, was suffocating. He was just an ordinary boy with some freakish arm and passable fighting skills, nothing special. How was he supposed to rescue all this people? On top of that his beloved one too. After all he hadn't been strong enough to save Credo either. Maybe all those people were damned. Nobody before had trusted him, had confided in his skills. Maybe they're right.

“Time to wake up, kid! You're missing out on all the fun, **Nero.** ”

The way he said his name. This little nickname. He hated it, but just for how it made him feel. Conflicted. Unsure. But also, happy. It gave him some strange feeling of belonging.

_~The first time I've met you, there was no way to foresee this. Curious how the tables have turned.~_

“It's up to you from here, kid! An opportunity to save the world doesn't happen every day and you know it! Savour it!”

Dante thought he would be able to do this. He's capable of saving everyone. **They** are.

And so they did.

To see him leave after everything was said and done hurt more than he'd ever imagined. He didn't even know this guy and now that he was gone, he felt like some big piece of his life was missing. Not that he was ready to admit it. He rather focussed on Kyrie, held her close, with all the love he felt for her, bending down to finally, after all this time, capture her wonderful lips in an innocent kiss, their first kiss.

A stray scarecrow had other plans for them and Nero had to face the truth that there was no cliché-like happy end for them, kiss and all. Just more demons and a city to rebuild.

During all this time the memories of the time spent together with the elder demon hunter replayed in his mind, occupied the majority of his thoughts during the day and almost 99% of his dreams at night. So he took it upon himself to find him. It was not that difficult to find someone who had heard of the legendary demon hunter Dante before and soon enough he knew the name as well as the location of his shop. Calling him was the natural first step of getting in touch again, but it felt weird to just reach out to him out of the blue. Why was the other one so important to him? He had enough to do here in Fortuna. A job, a city to rebuild, responsibilities. Kyrie. But between all the things to do for the city and gaining the people's trust, there was close to no time left for them, for their relationship. And even with him denying it, he thought about Dante way more often than about his own girlfriend. He wasn't even sure anymore if he should call her that. Was it fair to call her like that? With him being that confused because of some random guy?

_Just one way of finding out._

And so he called Dante the first time, asking for guidance, asking for him to teach him how to fight with Yamato and asking for help with his demonic traits. He knew that there would nobody else that could teach him all those things. Also it served as a pretty good opportunity to get to know the man. Maybe he then would get over his stupid curiosity and be finally able to get some peace within his own mind again.

Countless of visits and nights spent at the DMC, Nero knew that he had lost his mind, his sanity, somewhere along the way. Maybe he really shouldn't let that demons smack him around that much, maybe Nico was right.

He'd spent so much time with the older hunter, got to know him, got used to all his antics and quirks that were driving him insane most of the time, but he was still not cured from this curiosity. There was always something else he wanted to know, his mind was always looking for something new, always more and more and **more**. It was never enough. There couldn't possibly be enough of Dante in his life. But now with Nico and her van, the side-branch of DMC, the orphanage he deeply cared for, helping his sister out whenever and however he could, there was simply no time to see him that often anymore. He still had responsibilities in Fortuna, he couldn't just leave everything to Kyrie, even if they didn't work out in the end. She still was family to him. His only family left.

It had been a tough decision but in the end he had to be honest to Kyrie and himself. He'd had to admit that she hadn't been holding his fancy anymore. He still loved her dearly, but just like a sister, like family. Not like he'd loved her back then. Before **he** had entered his life, his mind, maybe even his heart.

But he was conflicted. Was he really interested in him like that? Was there really a possibility that he was romantically interested? Crushing on him? Maybe even... in love?

And even if he was, was there any chance that these feelings were mutual?

_~Don't know what your messages mean – is it more or just as a friend?~_

Nero sighed. It had been some time since he last saw the man, but he'd thought about this for some time now. Dante was sending him some mixed signals there. At least Nero thought he was getting them, hoping that he wasn't just imagining them and reading too much into simple things that meant nothing at all. Nero groaned. His head was a mess, everything in him was in turmoil. His whole life was slowly getting out of hand, everything was drifting away and falling into chaos.

_~Everything in me is utter chaos.  
_ _Chaos, because I don't know what you're to me – a friend or can there be more?~_

He'd been distracted, and again Dante had been the cause. And again, Nero had to pay the price for it. But this time it had costed him his arm, nearly even his life too.

All this time in hospital, recovering from the wound physically and the loss of a limb psychological, there had been no sign from Dante. He didn't visit, not even once. There was no call, no message, nothing. And even when nobody was able to see it, it had hurt Nero the most. More than the still healing wound, more than the phantom pain in his missing arm, more than the pitying looks of Kyrie and Nico. The pain of knowing that Dante didn't care enough to actually check on him, that he wasn't important enough to him, that he for sure wasn't reciprocating his feelings, nearly killed him. And the worst part of it was that there was no medication for it. No pain killer was able to dull this particular pain.

V had been a surprise. As well as the new mission. The implication of Dante being in so much trouble that he needed Nero's help. Even with his wound still healing and his heart still broken, he agreed to come with him.

Nothing could've prepared him for what he saw when they finally arrived. Lady and Trish unconscious, Dante beaten on the ground. Never before had he felt like he did in that moment. Enraged, deeply offended even. Who did this piece of shit think it was to hurt the most important person in his life? Who the fuck allowed him to kick his ass? The only one allowed to rip him a new one was he! Dante was his! And nobody was allowed to lay a single finger on what was his!

Rage fuelled his mind, his actions, his ruthless attacks, but there was something his rage couldn't compensate for: his lost arm. He hadn't fully recovered yet and he wasn't used to fight with just one arm at all. His demonic heritage wasn't enough anymore. He was useless.

“V, get Nero out of here! That's a bad move!”

The way Dante called out to the black-haired guy, the way of familiarity his words transferred, even though it was heavily laced with urgency, made Nero freeze on the spot. What's the meaning of this? Who was this guy? Who was V to Dante? A friend... or more?

_~Chaos, because I don't know what you're to me – a friend or can there be more?~_

“I can still fight!”

He wanted to help, there was no way he would just leave him alone with this demon! They were stronger together! They have fought together and succeeded! He couldn't have forgotten, could he?

“Nero, go! You're just dead weight!”

Dead weight. That's what he really thought of him. He was useless. But why? Because he lost his arm? Because he hadn't been good enough even before that?

V interrupted his musings by dragging him further and further away, killing all the demons on their way and getting them out of this damn tree. The moment they landed, his brain provided another thought.

_Or is it because of him? Because he found something... someone... to replace me?_

Roots shooting out of the ground everywhere and killing the bystanders one by one, again interrupted his thoughts. V again stopped him from helping.

“Get your fucking hands off me,” he growled and stomped angrily away.

The anger faded pretty soon though and got replaced by worry. Why was Dante not back by now? Even if he really had to admit defeat, he just would've gotten out of there, wouldn't he? Get the team back together and try again. There was no way... right?

Hours turned into days and days into weeks, but Dante didn't return. Neither did Lady or Trish. The only one left were Nico, Nero and V.

The first thing the young demon hunter had to get out of his system was the mystery of V.

He cornered him the first time they met again, this time with two arms, one human, the other one of his Devil Breaker Ouverture. V was simply raising an eyebrow at the unusual behaviour and waited for how this would play out.

“Who the fuck are you and what are you to Dante?” He got growled at.

“Well, what do you think I am to him?”

V couldn't refrain from teasing the other one, too obvious as it was that he was jealous. A feeling without any foundation, so utterly ridiculous the poet wanted to laugh. Nero thought that V was able to steal Dante's attention from him? He didn't know his brother that good anymore, but he was 100% sure that the boy in front of him was his whole world. The moment he appeared, his stupid twin hadn't been able to take his focus off of him.

Nero's heart broke. So it was true? Dante had found someone else. There was no place for him in his life.

V noticed the shift of mood immediately and decided to not torture the boy any longer.

“I'm paying Dante to kill Urizen for me. Our relationship is purely professional. Nothing more and nothing less.”

_And of course I'm half of his twin brother, but nobody needs to know that._

After that little encounter they quickly became a pretty good team in combat and their journey kept going.

Nero stood on some random rooftop after killing the last demon and looked at the Qliphoth.

““An opportunity to save the world doesn't happen every day”, my ass. Dante... where are you? I can't do this alone.”

With every day that went by without a sign from him, Nero's hope died down more and more. Despair wanted to take his heart into a tight grip, suffocate him, force him to give up and let go of all hope. But Nero was strong, he couldn't give up just like that. He had a lot to fight for. A lot to live for. Some things left to protect.

* * *

The first thing Dante saw was the blade of a sword coming straight at his face. After that he needed some moments to get his wits together. But then V started to talk and again everything in him started to scream bloody murder. How dare he to use Nero like that? Why the fuck was he on his way to Urizen? Did he plan on fighting him himself? All alone? Did he want to get himself killed?

“Hey, this is my gig! Leave Nero out of this!”

He needed to get to him as soon as possible. But there were so many things in his way. V, Cavaliere Angelo, Trish, that stupid bird, but finally he was able to catch up with him. Not a second too late he wanted to add.

To see Nero again, pretty beaten up but still alive and kicking, was soothing every worry in an instant. He really wanted to just swoop his beloved one up and get him out of here, but this was unfortunately no option.

Nero couldn't believe his eyes. Was he dreaming? Already unconscious or maybe dead? Hallucinating? Was Dante really standing there? In some crazy new demon form? Alive? He wanted to cry, scream, hug the shit out of him and kissing him senseless. But this was not the right time. Maybe there would never be the right moment for it.

_~Forever “maybe”...~_

“Dante, you son of a bitch... I knew you couldn't be killed that easily! Hey, he's all yours. But don't let it become a habit...”

After that he blacked out. Griffon grabbed him, cheered Dante on and took him to safety afterwards. Finally the older one was able to focus on the task at hand.

Nero awoke rather harshly, jolting awake and nearly jumping to his feet, ready to help Dante fight. To his very confusion he found himself in... the van?

“I'd rather not move so reckless so sudden. You've been injured pretty bad,” V's dark voice echoed through the otherwise silent air. No familiar banter or noises of Nico doing stuff with her masterpieces, no mouthy avian demon, just silence.

“V, what happened? What about Dante?!”

“Calm down, Nero. I'm pretty sure he's alright. It's Dante we're talking about after all.”

“How did I...?”

“Griffon carried you here.”

A harsh landing of something big interrupted their little chitchat and both of them knew: Dante was back. Nero had to fight the urge to run out and punch him square in the face. He had been worried sick about him for weeks! And now this little shit just turned up and acted like nothing had happened?

But on the other hand, his heart begged to be heard. He wanted to tell him about his feelings so bad. They had to fight this demon again, who knew how this would end this time? He really wanted to get it off his chest. Maybe steal himself one kiss before one of them died for real this time. Not that he planned on dying so soon, but it was part of the job.

_~I've got the words in my head, but I keep silent.~_

He for sure didn't want to pour out his heart in front of all of them. But when would there be time for them to talk in some secluded corner of this fucking hell? Without any of the others either listening on seeing them?

Before he could even think of dragging Dante into the van, he already announced his departure.

_Oh, you fucking won't! Not this time!_

“Dante! I'm gonna go to!”

“Why don't you sit this one out?”

“Oh, let you call me dead weight again? No, thanks. I got all the power I need – right here.”

Dante looked at Nero's current Devil Breaker, this time it was a Punchline model. The older devil hunter knew that the kid was able to defend himself, to kill off almost any demon, but this one was definitely too much. He was dangerous. And besides that... it was his father. But he couldn't deny it any longer: He was just scared to lose him. To see him hurt. To not being able to get to him in time. To not being able to get him out of harm’s way. To be responsible for whatever could happen to him.

“You don't understand... that's not... what I mean...”

V interrupted them and there was no more room for arguing. It was settled: the three of them would go. Dante's heart screamed, tightened painfully within his chest.

“I'm gonna go my way, you guys can go yours. Let's just say that's best for the cause.”

_Because otherwise I would tackle you down and restrain you with something you wouldn't be able to escape. Just to prevent the fight between you and this fucking idiot. To get you out of harm's way. Because I wouldn't be able to concentrate on him, always focussing on you instead._

“We gonna meet up somewhere along the way for sure. Please be safe until then.”

A silent whisper, a plea to anyone who might be listening, to keep his beloved one save.

_~I won't say that it's you making me feel this way.  
_ _It's the heart and the soul – and the body and the brain driving me insane.~_

Nero on the other hand felt the urge to strange V. Yeah, he'd been helping him to convince Dante, cut short the discussions, but he also had cut short his plan of dragging him into the van to be able to talk to him.

_~I just need one sentence to make everything clear. I'm just waiting for the moment and have missed another one.~_

He needed another plan. Surviving until he was able to make one sounded like a good start.

Nero met V along the way and couldn't deny him, agreed to bring him with him, effectively gotten slowed down by this. His heart urged him to hurry, to not waste a single second, to not let Dante fight this demon alone again. But the moment they finally arrived, Urizen was already on the ground, defeated. His heart sang in the highest, most euphoric notes it could muster, too relieved to see his beloved one safe and relatively unharmed.

While Nero and Dante talked with each other, rather awkwardly, V took the opportunity to get back to his other half, resurrecting Vergil in the process.

“Thank you, Nero.”

Vergil vanished in some freakish portal he opened with Yamato (seriously, why wasn't he ever able to do this? Travelling would've been way easier with it!), leaving just two demon hunters. The younger one was at Dante's side the next moment, examining him for grave injuries, but thanks to some higher power (more like Vergil's lack of interest in fighting a weakened Dante) he was in a pretty good shape.

“Go home, Nero. This isn't your fight.”

And again, Dante tried to push him away. But not this time. Nero had had enough. It was time.

“Hell no! I'm not gonna let you fight him alone again!”

Dante finally turned to face him properly.

“You don't understand.”

“Let me guess? I'm dead weight? You can shove that-!”

“That's not it...”

“What the fuck then?!”

Before Dante was able to answer though, Nero grabbed the hem of his coat and pulled him close.

“It's you who doesn't understand a fucking thing, Dante. I'm not risking losing you again. Never again am I going to stand at the side lines to watch someone I love get injured or killed.”

Every fight in Dante suddenly died down. Did he just...?

_Did he say he... loves me?_

He shook his head. Yeah, he loved him like a friend, maybe like family. He for sure wasn't reciprocating his feelings that way. He never had been lucky like that in his life before.

So he took Nero's hands in his own and made him let go of his coat.

“I'm sorry, but I need to do this. Alone.”

With that he turned around, took some steps away and slipped into his DT.

Nero's heart stopped beating for some moments, before starting to race in his chest. It felt the rejection even before his brain was able to process it.

“I... tell you... that I **love** you... and that's the only thing you have to say?”

The giant demon stopped abruptly, which caused Nero to wonder. Didn't this idiot in front of him get the memo? What the fuck did he think had those words meant instead?

Dante turned around, but there was no chance of reading something in his facial expression in his current form, as the younger one wasn't that familiar with them.

“You...love...” Dante whispered, but stopped himself and approached the other one again, a sad smile on his face. A giant hand came to rest on his head, careful to not hurt him with his claws.

“I'm sorry, Nero.”

Before the young man was able to answer, he'd spread his wings and took off.

Nero's heart bled, his soul shattered and he wanted to scream and shout and cry his heart out. But it wasn't the rejection that had hurt him like that. Dante's last words were the thing that killed him deep inside. They didn't sound like a rejection at all. They sounded like parting words. A way to say goodbye, indicating that he wouldn't be back.

Anger started to replace the hurt inside of him. He had no words to describe how much he hated it when Dante acted like that. Like all the responsibilities were on him alone, like there was nobody who's able to help him. Like Nero wouldn't exist.

“I gonna kick your ass so hard when I find you, Dante.”

His earlier words still stood. He wasn't stand by at the side lines ever again. Not when Dante was fighting his own twin. But he had to hurry.

The fear inside his heart urged him to run as fast as he could, whispered all the bad things that could happen to his beloved one if he was late into his ear, causing him to nearly lose his mind. He knew how strong Urizen had been, had fought some fights alongside V, he knew that he hadn't been weak either, so he feared what the combined strength of those two inside of Vergil could do.

The collapsing Qliphoth wasn't helping either, slowing him down even further, only thanks to the Devil Breaker he was able to follow Dante in the first place.

_Too slow. I'm not fast enough. I'm gonna be too late. He's gonna die. I'm too weak. Again._

“I couldn't protect Credo. To this day I hate myself for not having enough strength. But this time is different. I swear! **I'm not letting you die!** ”

The fear for his beloved one, the anxiety of being too weak again, all those negative feelings turned into something powerful within him. Way too powerful to be contained in his body. As it overflowed, he felt something spread behind him, then it covered his entire being and he took off.

Just in time to stop those two idiots from killing each other. The confused look on Dante's face was actually worth all the anger, the angst, the anxiety. It was pretty nice to see this look on him once in his life.

“...Nero?”

He threw them back, bringing some distance between them and dropping the Devil Trigger.

“This ends. Right here.”

“I already told you, this is not-”

Anger flared up within him, hot, violent, burning. And this time he couldn't contain it any longer. He may love this idiot, but he for sure deserved the bitch slap he received the next moment.

“Shut the fuck up, dead weight. I won't watch you kill each other. None of you is dying today.”

Dante just groaned and held his jaw.

“”Not dying”, my ass. That bitch slap of yours nearly killed me.”

Nero had to bite back a triumphant grin at his whining. It felt pretty good to be on the upper hand at least once. Unfortunately, he had to deal with other things right now first.

“Vergil...V... whatever you want to call yourself. I'm not letting you kill Dante. This stupid sibling rivalry ends right here.”

Fighting Vergil was challenging, different to everything and everyone he'd fought before, but now with his true form, his Devil Trigger, he was able to come out victorious.

“Oh, brother. You cut off your own son's arm for more power and you still lost,” Dante teased Vergil, which caused Nero to look at the called-out man in shock.

_What? Son? But that means... he's my... father? And Dante..._

A rumbling sensation interrupted his thoughts. There was no time for his own crisis. They still had a world to save.

“Enough, dammit! The Underworld is taking over and we need to do something before it's too late.”

The playful mood was gone instantly, causing Dante to stand up, dust off his coat and team up with Vergil.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“We need to sever the Qliphoth roots in the Underworld itself. Then we gonna seal the portal with Yamato.”

Nero didn't expect Vergil to answer his question but at least he had been clear with him. Not unlike Dante would've been.

“You're not able to come back if you do that,” he stated what everyone of them already knew, “You can't leave me here just like that!”

Dante turned towards him again, looked him deeply in the eyes.

“It's because you're here, we're able to go. We're trusting you with things on this side, capiscé?”

Vergil urged him to hurry and he already wanted to turn around again, but Nero managed to grab his coat in time.

“Wait-”

The next thing he felt were a pair of warm lips on his and strong arms around his body. Before he was even near processing what just had happened, the kiss had ended and Dante was speaking.

“I promise we'll be back. And then we'll talk. Wait for me, Nero.”

He then let go of him and jumped off the Qliphoth.

Vergil looked almost as confused at Nero as Nero was looking back at him. Neither of them had expected Dante to do that. The older one just sighed and pulled out V's book.

“I won't lose the next time. Hold onto this until then.”

With both gone, Nero had finally enough time to freak out. Dante just had **kissed** him!! His heart was beating way too fast, he was fearing for it to simply jump out of his chest and make a nose-dive after his beloved one.

The still collapsing demonic tree got him moving though, changing into his demonic form and jumping down huge parts at once. He needed to get to the girls, as they probably needed his help. Also he needed to talk to someone about all this 'being-related' bullshit, Dante never told him about. But he got time to figure everything out. Until he came back to him. A smile formed on Nero's lips.

_~Maybe “forever”.~_

* * *

Dante and Vergil made the task of cutting the Qliphoth roots and killing wave after wave of demonic things look like child's play, but actually they were both in need of a little break. One that the older one immediately used to tease his little brother. If he had to be stuck with him in here then he wanted to make the best out of it. And now, after getting to know that he had a son, he contemplated on getting back to the human world and try to get to know the boy. Not that he would ever tell Dante this. Or that he was actually worried about the possibility that Nero didn't want to get to know him. That he wasn't needed as a father in his life, with him being more than just fashionably late and off with not exactly the best start to begin with. But back to teasing his brother.

“So... Nero is my son, you said?”

Dante just hummed, he was currently trying to get some shut eye until the next wave of suicidal demons felt the need to interrupt their peaceful break. As much as he was happy that Vergil attempted to start some kind of conversation with him, he was currently way too exhausted to talk to him. He always had to focus way too hard during conversations with his twin, always careful on not to miss out on some hidden meaning between the lines.

“Imagine my surprise then when I saw you kiss him. To lust after your own nephew is kinda low, even for you, don't you think?”

Dante felt how all colour left his face instantly. He'd totally forgot about that! He'd been too occupied to calm Nero down as well as his aching heart, which didn't want to part with his love, to even waste a single thought on the fact that Vergil had been watching the whole thing!

_This is how I gonna die. This time for real._

He jumped to his feet, trying to get some distance between him and his twin, but he already expected him to do this and was hot on his heels.

“V-vergil... you see... hehe...” Dante started to explain himself, even if he didn't even know how to start, only to get interrupted by the feeling of some summoned swords poking into his back, effectively blocking his escaping route. Vergil inched closer, Yamato already drawn and pointed towards him. He leaned closer, the cold blade of his weapon held against his twin's throat.

“You better treat him right, my foolish little brother,” Vergil growled straight into his face, nose tips almost touching from how close he'd leant towards Dante, but there was no bite behind those words. They almost sounded... playful? Tender? To see a smirk spread on his lips just moments later was too much for Dante. Was he already dead and hallucinating?

The spectral swords in his back as well as the blade against his skin vanished and Vergil took some steps back.

“What...?”

Dante was beyond confused, which did nothing to soothe the teasing expression on Vergil's face.

“You look so confused, brother. Did you expect me to say something else?”

“Well... hell fucking yeah, I did! I thought you gonna kill me for sure!”

His twin just shrugged.

“I **was** surprised for a second back then, but seriously? It's not world-shattering news to me. Unlike you I know that we're demons too and it's just natural for us to wish for a strong mate. It's just natural that Nero caught your attention, being my son and all. He's pretty strong already, even for his age and without proper education, I might say.”

Dante was beyond shocked. What the fuck was just happening? His brother... was okay with it? This whole behaviour Vergil just displayed was confusing to him.

“Okay... who are you and what did you do to the real Vergil? You're some pretty shit copycat. Next time you should do your homework first.”

His twin groaned and rolled his eyes.

“But I really don't know what Nero sees in you to be honest. You're an idiot.”

With those words he started to walk away.

“Make haste, Dante. Let's wrap this up and then find a way back home.”

_Home...? Does this mean...?_

“You want to come home with me?”

“I've got a son to raise after all. Someone has to do this after all. Also he needs someone to keep you in check. His romantic involvement with you is for sure gonna cause him to go easy on you. Can't have that.”

_If he wants me in his life in the first place. After all that happened it wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't._

Dante started to jog over to catch up with him and whined playfully: “You just want to witness how awkward the conversation goes when I have to tell him you're his father and we're actually related! Gosh, the kid is gonna kill me.”

Vergil turned to him at that, a calculating look on his face. Did his idiot brother really not know that Nero already knew? Did he not notice? Was it not intentional back then? Just a slip-up? That would mean...

“You never told him before?”

“Nah, with me thinking you're dead and stuff... why should I tell him that? What good would have a dead father done him?”

Vergil hummed in understanding.

“Nero already knows. You messed up during our fight.”

Dante's playful mood left him, together with his soul when the memory came back to him.

“Oh fuck! Verge, we need to get back! Now! He's gonna hate me! I need to talk to him! Asap!”

The older twin let out an annoyed sigh at the sight of his panic-driven brother. A panicked Dante was even worse than a cheerful one. He slapped him on the back of his head.

“Calm down, stupid brother. I'm sure it's gonna be fine.”

An inhuman screeching noise was interrupting them rather rudely.

“But for now, focus on the task at hand. The sooner we're finished, the sooner you can make up with Nero.”

Nero sneezed rather violently for the third time in the last ten minutes and it was starting to get on his nerves. But not as much as Nico.

“Naww, you think your daddy and your **daddy** are talking about you again?”

“Shut up, for fucks sake! I swear to god... Why do I even put up with you?”

Even after all those weeks he had to get used to her teasing, she still managed to get under his skin and make him blush.

But his revenge would be a great one, as he knew about her celebrity crush on Dante. He's gonna get his payback soon enough. As soon as Dante and Vergil would be back. And he punched both at least once – his soon-to-be-boyfriend was going to receive more than just one punch of course (for not telling him about him being his fucking uncle). And of course after one probably pretty awkward talk. But afterwards... afterwards Nico would suffer.

A sinister smile spread on his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this clusterfuck I produced, please let me know! Leave me kudos, I love them! <3  
> But not as much as I love everybody who's able to read this. You did it! xD <3<3<3


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